Tough love

A huge thanks goes to Ryan for posting the announcement and some pictures the first two days... (Yes, those were his words about tearing up. But you knew that - most of you probably know it doesn't take much to make me tear up, especially this week!)

I must admit it has been a tough week! We are all well and hanging in there, but figuring out breastfeeding, adjusting to the lack of sleep, Ryan heading back to work, and mainly just dealing with various complications of being new to breastfeeding (both me and baby) have made for an emotionally and physically challenging week for me!

BUT...we're in love and it's all worth it for this precious little guy who seems to have appeared out of thin air! (He didn't, of course. Somehow he came out of my belly, but the birth story is one for another day...)

And, as suspected, Ryan makes a great dad. He loves doing bath time and has been a huge help with middle of the night diapering and putting Marlin back to sleep, so that I can get some zzz's between feedings. And he's doing his best to turn Marlin into a baseball fan, as they've been listening to every Cleveland Indians game together.

We also owe a huge thanks to my mom, who has been a wonderful Nana to Marlin, a great help around the house, a wonderful postpartum doula, supportive breastfeeding problem solver, etc, etc, etc.

And we are so so so thankful for a wonderful Tsaile/Chinle community of friends who have been making delicious gluten-free dinners for us for the last week with another week of dinners to come. A special mention to Dave for being our meal courier from Chinle.

Now some pics since that's all you came for anyway, right?!



I sure think he looks like a picture of me from when I was little in the one above, but I think he looks more like a Scarborough other times, like in the one below. What do you think?





Self portrait at bath time with dad.



My sweet monster onesie from Aunt Julie and Uncle Dave.


I am a monster!